


Chance Encounter

by kaientai



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, High school crushes, I reallt just wanted an excuse to write for this trash man, Matchmaker Juza, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23942908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaientai/pseuds/kaientai
Summary: On a perfectly normal morning, at the perfectly flourished breakfast table, Taichi asks Banri a perfectly off-putting question."Ban-chan, how the heck is your hair so silky?!"
Relationships: Settsu Banri/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 113





	Chance Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> I've reached the 1 million point threshold in the Guy event in JP (I'm f2p aaaa) and that just means there's 1.2 million more to go 'til I get that Banri SSR [weeps silently] So, while I'm waiting for my SP to refill, I thought, hey why not write about why Banri has L'Oreal hair by making up a reader character he crushes on for it?

Banri usually starts up his day skirting everyone else in the lounge to be the first one in the showers. Unlike most of the men that reside in the Mankai dorms, he actually takes the time to scrub down every niche in his body until it's squeaky clean. But, oh, don't even get him _started_ with the intricacies that came with taking care of his hair. That conversation is something none of the members of the troupe (except, maybe, Azuma) are ready for, and he likes to keep it that way.

But on a perfectly normal morning, at the perfectly flourished breakfast table, Taichi asks Banri a perfectly off-putting question.

"Ban-chan, how the heck is your hair so silky?!"

The neo gangster, as Yuki typically calls him, just finished shrugging on his school blazer when he casts Taichi a bizarre look. He has a notepad and a textbook in front of him, balancing a pen in his fingers as he stares back at Banri expectantly. The little brat is in the middle of cramming his homework, and he has the _audacity_ to distract himself like that?

"Conditioner," is all he says in return, grabbing one of the toast slices Omi left for them to munch on.

Juza scoffs from where he's stuffing his face with pancakes on the other end. "That ain't very helpful." 

"I wasn't fucking talking to you, Hyodo," Banri grates at him dismissively. 

"Banri-kun," he hears Sakuya calling out from the lounge, where he and Masumi are already slinging their schoolbags across their shoulders. "You ready to go?"

He spares Taichi a minute nod of the head, telling him to stop doing his homework the day it's due before picking up his own bag. Then, he gives Juza the finger, earning a momentary scolding from Sakyo, who just happens to pass by when he does it. _Then_ , after a few words in farewell bid to those who don't work nor study—Citron delaying their departure a little because he'd wanted to show how to make a blade (braid)—the Hanasaki High boys were on their way. 

"So noisy," Masumi mutters as he pulls the door behind him. "But if it was the Director, I wouldn't mind." 

Sakuya laughs, leading the way for the three of them. "There's never a dull moment in the dorms, huh?" 

As they traverse the short distance to school, Banri hangs back a little when Sakuya asks Masumi about the younger boy's literature class. Their conversation fades into background noise in his ears as he let his eyes wander around the neighborhood. But when they pass by a familiar intersection, Banri instinctively flickers his gaze at the tall, white house in the corner lot—a girl in a dark green uniform closing the gate behind her. 

You're preoccupied with something on your phone, oblivious to the three boys that are walking past your house—him included. But given that Ouka High is the opposite way from where they're headed, he doesn't even get the chance to slip in a quick hello. 

Well, it's not like you'd remember someone like him, right?

* * *

"Ugh, this _sucks_!"

A week after Banri moved into the Mankai dorms, he found himself facing a rather pressing dilemma: the shampoo provided for the troupe members made his hair disgustingly _greasy_. 

And that was how he wound up at the nearby grocery store, grumbling about how cheap that yakuza, Sakyo, was being with their commodities. _If you want something else, buy it yourself_ , he told him. Giving the old man the last word might have let his pride take a hard blow, but it was a small price to pay for comfort. He'd rather kiss ass to the cheapskate than live another day with greasy hair.

But when he reached the toiletries section, he realized another thing. 

The brand he used at home was something his sister imported from another country. 

"Having trouble picking something out?"

Banri cast a withering glare at the girl who dared to point out his predicament, but his irritation morphed into curiosity when he noticed that you donned the familiar green of the Ouka High uniform. The next thing he noticed was the way your shiny, luscious hair cascaded down your shoulders, as smooth as a waterfall. He retracted his hostility for a minute, wondering if you could be his saving grace. Banri was good at a lot of things, but he didn't want to make any gambles with his current conundrum. 

"Yeah," he answered hesitantly. "Uh, do you know which brand doesn't make your hair oily? Shampoo brand, I mean." 

You blinked up at him for a second, confused, before your eyes lit up with realization. "Ah, O'Real is a really nice brand. Makes my hair really bouncy." To demonstrate, you swished your head around, making your long tresses sway with the movement in a dazzling fashion. "But you can't just settle with the shampoo. It's better to buy the value pack with conditioner over...here." 

Plucking one of the aforementioned value packs, you handed it to Banri without much preamble. He glanced at the price tag stuck to the bottom, and he had to force himself not to wince with how much it'll cost him. 

He was momentarily spared from his monetary concerns when he noticed you struggling to carry the basket you held in both hands. It was filled with an assortment of products ranging from laundry detergent to cold cuts. While he usually didn't offer girls his help lest they asked for it, Banri decided to make an exception.

"You need a hand with that?" He flicked his gaze downwards. 

You flushed at his offer, shaking your head (his eyes staring a bit too long at the way your hair moved once again). "Oh, no, no! I couldn't possibly bother you with—"

"Come on," he said, clicking his tongue as he plucked the basket from your grasp. "I ain't taking no for an answer. Consider this as...payback. For helpin' me out."

Relenting, you folded your arms across your chest, smiling up at him cheekily. "Would you at least tell me your name, then?" 

"Settsu Banri," he replied coolly. "You still headed to the other aisles?"

"Nope. I remembered last minute that I still have an unopened bottle of conditioner at home," you sigh, giggling at him. "You're not very delicate with girls, are you?"

He stiffened for a moment. Well, you weren't wrong. His sister was one of the toughest women he'd ever seen, and even though he didn't expect every woman to turn out the same way, Banri never once treated girls like fragile glass. His raucous behavior around them prompted most of his female classmates to steer clear of him—not that he'd minded, but this was the first time someone had spoken the words to his face.

"What about you?" he wondered gruffly in hopes of switching up the conversation. "What's your name?" 

"(Surname) (Name)," you told him with a cheeky grin. "Shall we go, Settsu-kun? I mean, you'd want to wash your greasy hair as soon as possible, right?"

His mouth hung agape with disbelief as you happily pranced out of the toiletries section—leaving him with the realization that there _were_ people aside from Juza that could pick a fight with him. 

And, surprisingly, he'd let this one slide.

* * *

"You know _(Name)_?" 

Okay, he didn't expect Juza to react like _that_ when Banri decided to ask him about you when his roommate arrived at home. 

"Yeah, I ran into her at the grocery store a few months back," he says, ticked off. "What's it to ya?"

"Stay away from her," Juza tells him off sharply as he swings his school bag up to his bed. "I _mean_ it, Settsu. Fuck around with me, I don't care. But I swear to god, if you touch my cousin—"

Banri does a double-take on that one. " _Cousin_? How much fuckin' family do you have, Hyodo?" 

"A lot," he replies like he doesn't want to talk about it, but Juza's glare doesn't ease up and for a minute, Banri feels a genuine spite emitting from his roommate. The neo gangster sighs, twirling his phone in his fingers. He sort of knew that asking Juza about you would be a stretch even if you both went to the same school, but how the hell was he supposed to know that you were his goddamn cousin?

After you checked out your groceries that day, you managed to scam him into carrying them for you to your house as well. You were quite the charmer, he had to admit. You'd smooth-talked him into doing your bidding so easily that it was hard to imagine you being related to the mumbling nervous wreck of an actor that was Juza. 

It was a chance encounter, he thinks. He could have gone to a different grocery store at a different time at a different date, yet he was there specifically when you found him glaring at the shampoo and conditioner bottles lined up on the shelves. Banri doesn't believe in shit like fate or destiny, but it was a little freaky when he'd seen you again this morning after Taichi asked about his hair—months since the grocery incident. 

"If it means anything, she's always been going to our shows, though," Juza mumbles a few minutes later, catching Banri by surprise. "She's been curious about the guy that's been pickin' fights with me all this time, and I told her it was the one who played Luciano in Picaresque."

"O-Oi!" he yells out. "Don't sully my name before she can even properly meet me!"

"Why do you care?" Juza challenges, brows raised with curiosity. "I thought you didn't give two shits about girls."

For the first time, he can't offer up a single retort. In a battle of wits, he thought he'd win against Juza in every instance, but now...

"Fuck off!" Banri shouted at him, storming out of their room as he hid the blush creeping up his neck from his roommate's view.

**Author's Note:**

> Heehee I have questionable taste in men, but that's not gonna stop me from writing for them :,)


End file.
